China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) on Friday said that the Chinese government is poised to carry out a series of previously promised incentive programs for Taiwanese businesses operating in China.
He said that he had earlier assured representatives of Taiwanese businesses that the Chinese government would not backtrack on the promises Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) affirmed during a meeting in Fujian Province on Wednesday.
Zhang made the pledge to former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who is in Nanjing in his capacity as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman, leading a delegation of KMT officials for a series of events marking the 10th anniversary of a meeting between then-KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and former Chinese president and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Zhang said that at the meeting in Fujian, Li heard a myriad of concerns faced by Taiwanese businesspeople, including their misgivings over incentive programs, intellectual property protection and access to financing, and pledged that China would honor its previous commitments on those issues.
Meanwhile, the events commemorating the groundbreaking meeting between Lien and Hu are setting the stage for a meeting between Chinese President and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) and New Taipei City Mayor and KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on May 4.
Zhang said it was more important than ever to review the progress made over the past decade and bolster future cross-strait ties.
Hau said it took great fortitude for leaders of both parties to step forward 10 years ago to begin the journey toward establishing peace between Taiwan and China, and progress in the endeavor had accelerated markedly since 2008.
The most tangible reflections of such efforts are the economic boost brought by the influx of Chinese visitors to Taipei and the many instances where a cross-strait agreement to fight crime and provide mutual legal assistance had borne fruit, Hau said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard